After Graves and McGill, Jaqwan Washington is the Mavericks’ third leading scorer at 9.0 points per game. Washington, who wears jersey #23, is a 5’10” freshman guard. A 6’4” junior forward, Jorarei Bile is Medaille’s fourth leading scorer. At moments during the season, Bile has excelled for the Mavericks. The 6’4” junior forward shoots over 67% from the field. When Bile has gotten looks, he’s been a huge contributor. Medaille’s other key starter is a 6′ 0 ” freshman guard Dante Wilcott, from Erie, Pennsylvania. Wilcott, #12, is fifth on the Mavericks in scoring.

Junior forward Trevor Young #5 and 6’0” sophomore guard Dante Moultrie #4 are each integral pieces in the Mavericks’ rotation as well. Neither the 6’3” Young, or Moultrie, score much, but they both see roughly 20-minutes of playing time per game. Moultrie has been starting recently, while Young is one of the first subs off the bench. Two more guards round out the Mavericks reserves. Travis Sanders, #24, is a 6’2” junior from Euclid High School in Cleveland, Ohio. At times, Sanders has come up big for the Mavericks, although his performance as dropped off recently.

Another key contributor for Medaille is 6’2” sophomore Bryce Smith. Smith is fourth on the Mavericks in three-point shooting percentage. He’s thrown up the second-most shots from behind the arc for Medaille. While Smith is normally above-average from long range, he’s 2-14 in the last three games. The handful of games this season where Smith was exceptionally hot, Head Coach Keith Hack called plays to get him open.

The Mavericks have some international flavor on their roster as well. 6’1” senior guard, Tyler Sealy, #13, is from London, England. 6’5” junior forward Jorge Latapia, #34, is from Zaragoza, Spain. Each player has appeared in at least 20 games this year, however, neither is big contributor. Medaille also has a freshman from Munich, Germany, #35 Oscar Wolter .

At 6’6″, Wolter, and #50 Nick Carmichael are the tallest players on the Mavericks’ roster. After Jorarei Bile, Carmichael is the only post-type player who sees any appreciable court time. However, towards the end of the season, the junior forward’s playing time has dropped dramatically. Carmichael did not play in the AMCC championship game after playing only 10 minutes the previous night. He took two shots in the Penn State-Behrend win.

That’s the Medaille College Mavericks in a nutshell. They’re not an exceptionally tall basketball team, but their primary players are extremely athletic. They play long. Medaille can be forced into making mistakes. At points during the season, the Mavericks have been involved in games where both teams had double-digit turnovers. Two profoundly slopping games were against John Carroll and Ohio Northern. Both were Mavericks’ losses.

The Marietta College Pioneers are a deeper and more talented basketball team. However, the Medaille College Mavericks must not be taken lightly. Head Coach Jon VanderWal will prepare the Pioneers not to make that mistake. When they board the team bus headed south to the Ohio River, Medaille is undeniably a Cinderella hopeful. The Mavericks are the bracket’s #16 seed. They have colossal challenge awaiting them Friday night on Fenton Court.

To keep their season from ending, the Mavericks must overcome one of the elite Division III basketball programs in the country. The Marietta College Pioneers’ men’s basketball team and their fans at The BanJo are preparing to make that agonizingly difficult, if not impossible.